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CONSTITUTION 



THE \VA!§III]\GTO]V 



XATIOML MONUMENT 



SOCIETY. 




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WASHINGTON. ^ 

PRINTED BY JOHN T. TOWERS. 
1847, 



CONSTITUTION. 



ARTICLE L 
This Society shall be styled " The Washington 
National Monument Society," and its object shall 
be the erection of a Great National Monument to 
the memory of Washington, at the Seat of the Fede- 
ral Government. 

ARTICLE II. 
The Society shall consist of all adult male contri- 
butors. The officers of the Soci-ety shall be a Presi- 
dent, three Vice Presidents, a Treasurer, and Secre- 
tary, who, with thirteen members, to be chosen as 
hereinafter mentioned, shall constitute a Board of 
Managers, all of whom shall be residents of the 
District of Columbia, and who shall be trienni- 
ally elected by ballot by the members of the So- 
Society present at its anniversary meeting on the 22d 
day of February, 1835, and on the same day in every 
third year thereafter. The existing Officers shall 
hold their places until the 22d of February, 1835 ; 
and all officers shall continue in office until others 
shall be elected. All vacancies that may occur in 
the Board of Managers shall be supplied by the 
Board until the next ensuing triennial election. And 
the President of the United States for the time being, 
shall be ex officio, President of the Society. 



ARTICLE IIL 

' The President shall preside at all meetings of the 
Society, state the business before it, and call all extra 
meetings when he shall see fit ; and, in case of his 
absence, it shall be the duty of the senior Vice Presir 
dent then present to take the Chair ; and he shall, 
jfor the time, have and exercise all the authority, 
privileges, and powers of the President. In the ab- 
sence oi the President and all the Vice Presidents at 
any meeting of the Society, the Society shall then 
choose, viva voce, a President j^ro tempore, who shall, 
for the time, be vested with all the power and au- 
thority of the President. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The Society shall meet on the 22d of February of 
every year. But if a vacancy shall occur, by the 
death, resignation, or otherwise, of any officer of the 
Society, an extra meeting shall be called by the 
President or either of the Vice Presidents, to fill 
such vacancies. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Treasurer shall receive and deposite to the 
credit of the Society all moneys collected for its use 
• in some safe Bank or Banks at Washington, to be 
P drawn therefrom by drafts signed by the President or 
a Vice President, and countersigned by the Treasurer; 
shall disburse the same in such manner as the Board 
of Managers shall direct ; and shall keep regular 



accounts of the moneys received and disbursed by 
him. The accounts of the Treasurer shall be audita 
ed every six months by a Committee of the Board 
of Managers, whose report shall be entered on their 
minutes. 

ARTICLE VI. 
The Secretary shall keep the Minutes of Proceedr 
ings of the Society, shall regularly record the same 
in a book to be provided and kept for that purpose, 
and shall also act as Secretary to the Board of 
Managers. 

ARTICLE VII. 
The United States shall be divided into such num, 
ber of collection districts as the Board of Managers 
shall, from time to time, designate : Provided, that 
this provision shall in no wise affect or impair the 
bonds or obligations of any deputy collector hereto- 
fore appointed, or prevent the giving by them of new 
bonds for the faithful discharge of their duties. 

ARTICLE VIII. 
It shall be the business of each Collector to call 
in person, or by honest and faithful deputies to be 
appointed by him, on all the inhabitants of his Col- 
lection District, and receive from them such contri- 
butions in money as they may be inclined to grant ; 
to transmit the same, at least once in every two 
months, to the Treasurer of the Society, or deposite 
the sums collected in some safe Bank ia his Collec- 



6 

tion District, to the credit of the Society, to be drawn 
therefrom by drafts signed by the President or a Vice 
President, and countersigned by the Treasurer ; and 
each Collector shall receive such compensation as 
the Board of Managers shall allow, and shall make 
a regular entry of the money he receives. He shall 
also enter in a book the names of the contributors, 
and the amount contributed by each, which shall be 
deposited in the Monument. Each Collector, before 
he enters upon the duties of his office, shall give 
bond. Math good and sufficient sureties, to be approved 
by the Board of Managers, in the penal sum of at 
least five thousand dollars, with such conditions as 
the Board of Managers shall prescribe, and shall 
make his final return, and close his collections, in 
one year from the day of his appointment, unless the 
Board of Managers shall find it expedient to extend 
the time. 

ARTICLE IX. 

It shall be the duty of the Board of Managers, of 
whom five members shall constitute a quorum, to carry 
the object of the Society into effect by all proper 
means not repugnant to this Constitution, and to ren- 
der at each annual meeting a statement exhibiting 
the sums received and expended, with the measures 
adopted by them. 

ARTICLE X. 

The President and Vice President of the United 
States, the Heads of Departments of the General 



Government, the Governors of the respective States 
and Territories, the Judges of the Supreme Court, 
and the members of the Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives of the United States, shall be honorary 
members of the Society. 

ARTICLE XI. 
The President of the Society, and, in his absence, 
the first, second, or third Vice President, shall 
be, ex officio. Chairman of the Board of Managers, 
and shall preside at all meetings thereof; and if the 
President and all the Vice Presidents be absent, then 
the Board shall choose, viva voce, a Chairman pro 
tempore* 

ARTICLE XII. 
No amendment to the Constitution shall be made, 
except at an annual meeting of the Society, and with 
the concurrence of three-fourths of the members 
present. 










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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




